Island



N. PETERS, PHOTO-LRTHOGRAPMER. WASHINGTON, D. C.

CULLEN vWHIPPLE, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

MACHINE FOR COMBING WOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,244, dated May 5, .1857.

To all whom t may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, OULLEN WHIPPLE, of Providence, in the county of Providence `and State of Rhode Island, have invented. a useful Apparatus for Combing` Fibrous Substances; and I do herein set forth the manner the same is to` be `performed and the machinery therefor, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in` which- Figure l is an end view. Fig.2 is an elevation of the opposite end. Fig. 3 is a section transverse through the machine. Fig.

4f is a detached view of the cylinder and nip-` pers. Fig. 5 a section of the nippers enlarged. n

My invention has for its obJect improvements in machinery for preparing and combing fibrous materials. For this purpose the machinery is so arranged that the fibrous materials (previously brought into a sliver or sheet by suitable means `as well understood) isfed `onto a cylindrical, or other suitable surface covered with teeth in such manner as to be embedded among the teeth. The forward ends of the ber are then raised by a rotating brush out of the teeth in a line across the cylinder or surface between the aws of the nippers and the raised por tion of the bersis thereby held while it is cleaned and freed from all foreign matters and short bers by a rotating cylinder or other suicientapparatus covered with teeth or their equivalents, after which the nippers take hold of such protruding and cleaned ends of the fibers, which are by the .working of the machine moved a sufcient distanceto draw out the other or uncleaned ends of the bers from the original ber through the teeth on the cylinder or surface, and thus a quantitylof ber is prepared or cleaned and separated or drawn out from among the other bers which have not been so treated, and this is done without removing the bers from among the teeth. The forward ends of each cleaned and prepared quantity of bers overlap and piece up with the ends of the previous take, which has just been carried forward. The nippers are by the working of thel machinery then moved back, together with their brush, by which a fresh quantity of ber is raised in a line across the lower jaw of the nippers and is treated as that before described. The toothed cylinder or surface is caused to move forward at intervals slowly `and the cleaned bers as they reach the draw-off rollers aredoed from the cylinder by the rollers. By this arrangement of machinery it will be noticed that although the fibers are drawn through the cylinder teeth to be cleaned, by the nippers, they do not leave them until the bers are thoroughly prepared or combed and are made up into a sliver.'

Having thus stated the nature of my invention I proceed to describe its construction and operation `referring tothe drawing in illustration in which the same letters in dicate the same parts in all the gures.

a is the framing whicliis made of any convenient form and dimensions sufficient to support the machinery.

b is a cylinder covered with suitable teeth.

It ymay loe here stated that the cylindrical form .for this part is preferable. It is not essential that such should be the case, but if of other form the other parts working therewith must correspond as i will be readily known by a competent mechanic.

The shaft?)5 is the main drivingfshaft.`

On one end is Xed a pulley f toreceive the driving strap (see Fig. l.) A pinion b4 is fixed upon this shaft to transmit the motion to the several parts. VThis pinion b4 works into and drives'a large spur wheel b3 which is Xed upon the outer end of the shaft This is the shaft upon which the cylinder is supported and has an independent motion apart froml the shaft at the other end of the shaft b there is a crank arm b2 (see Fig. 2) which is connected with a pawl e that works into a ratchet wheel e on the shaft of which there is a pinion d that gears into a spur wheel e2 to which is affixed a pinion be that gives motion to the cylinder Zi through a large wheel c that is fastened to the arms of the cylinder. The pinion d is on `the -same shaft as the lower draw off roller d and moves with it so that this roller turns at its surface with the same velocity as the cylinder b an upper draw o roller Z2 gears with the lower one and another set behind them are geared with the rst to convey off the completed combed sliver. The motion o-f the cylinder b it will be observed is at intervals and much slower than the shaft b on which it turns. The apparatus that works the nippers is vibratory in its action and centers upon the shaft b. It is located between the ends of the cylinder Z) and the frame a. i The arms h, `71, `to which the. nipper bars are aflixed and by which they are operated are centered upon the main shaft 71. This passes through the nave or hub of the arm 71, and the nave or hub of arm 71. is fixed to move on the navevof the other arm 7L upon the outer ends of these arms (duplicates of each of which are at either end of the cylinder b) the nipping bars are fastened and extend across the cylinder 71 from end to end; these nipping bars are opened by a spring not shown in the drawing and arel closed by cams 71,5 and levers 71,4. A curved or hooked projection is formed on each lever 71,4 which when the tails of the levers rest on the risers of the cams 71,5 iixed on the shaft 7) act on the rollers 71,3 on the arms 7L so as to bring the edges of the nipping bars into close proximity and hold the fibers perfectly fast until the tail ends of the levers 71,4L descend into a depression of the cam.

The whole of this apparatus is made to vibrate by cams f2 on the main shaft 71 which actuates the levers f3 (one at each end) that are connected with the arms 71. at the outer end so as to cause the nipping bars to move back to take hold of a fresh quantity of fibers. Attachedto the nipper arms 71, is a brush 7c by means of two short arms 7b2 so that it can be moved in a curved direction toward or from the cylinder 7). rlhe arms 7b2 are connected by links 7a2 with the arms 71 so that when the arms 71 71,', separate the brush k will be drawn down between them upon the cylinder as seen in Fig. 3. The brush his made to revolve on its axis rapidly by any sufficient gearing as at m, connecting it with the driving power; by means of this brush the noil, &c., is removed from that portion of the teeth on cylinder f over which it passes and by it the ends of the uncombed fibers arebrushed up out of the teeth and Amade to project over the upper edge of the lower nipper bar. A guard `plate extends across'the whole length of the cy inder, if used, and is fastened to the upper jaw of the nippers. Its purpose is to prevent the ends of the combed fibers from rising after the nippers leave them. The ends of the bers not embedded in the teeth of the cylinder when left by the nippers are laid down by the rotating brush .e hereafter described.

Above the lower rail of the frame a there is a shaft Z from which two radial arms pro- Athe shaft Z5 this cylinder 7 is vibrated on shaft Z toward and from the cylinder b at proper intervals to perform required service by means of an additional arm 11, affixed to the shaft Z (see Fig. l) bearing a roller, at its outer end that traverses the exterior surface of a revolving'cam 71, on the main shaft by this cylinder Z the rst ends of the iibers are combed, and by it also the brush 7c is stripped and on the lreturn of the cylinder Z back from the combing operation above named it comes in cont-act with a cylindrical brush m2 in rapid revolution which cleans it, and the noil, &c., is from this brush m2 finally transferred to the dofling cylinder m3 from wherever it is discharged in any of the usual ways.I

Figs. 3 and 4E, al, 072, are the doiing or drawing off rollers for the combed and finished sliver from which it passes into cans or is otherwise disposed of.

The working of the machinery is as follows. The iibers, of whatever kind operated upon pass into the machine over an apron m to the teeth upon the surface of the cylinder 7J and the fibers are then pressed in between the teeth of the cylinder by a brus'h y supported on two arms aliixed to the shaft y around which it revolves with a planet-ary motion and at intervals comes in contact with the surface b and perfectly embeds the fibers in the teeth. The fibers are thence carried around to point where the nippers take them, the forward ends are raised by the brush 7s as before described and seized by the nippers and carried .forward after the first ends are cleaned -by drawing'them forward through the teeth of cylinder b and then when combed the nippers open and Ileave the cleaned fiber to return for the nextquantity and by this operation repeated the continuous sliver is made, each quantity taken being made to overlap the preceding and the fibers themselves are not removed from between the teeth on the cylinder from the time they are fed in until they leave perfectly combed, except a small portion of their outer ends sufficient to be grasped by the nippers.

Having thus described the nature of Iny invent-ion for combing fibrous substances and the manner of performing the same I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the construction and special arrangement of the parts so long as the peculiar mode of operation herein described is attained and the fibers are retained between the teeth of the surface 79 while being combed nor do I claim the mechanical parts separately or conne myself to the details herein .described but I/Vhat I do claim is- The combining machinery as herein described whereby the fibers after being fed into or received among teeth (set in a suitable surface) have their ends raised out from the teeth and held by nippers while the ends are cleaned; the cleaned ends of the fibers being then nipped and drawn among the teeth in order to clean the other end and also to sepaof the prepared or combed bers being rate this quantity of bers from the other dofed or drawn off from the teeth in a con- J'ibers among the teeth the protruding ends tinuous sliver as above explained.

are then deposited amid the teeth in such CULLEN WHIPPLE. manner that they overlap the ends of the Witnesses:

quantity of fibers which have been just J. J. GREENOUGH,

previously similarly treated thus admitting JOHN POST. 

